As technology continues to transform financial services, fintech innovators, and those who do business with them, face rapidly changing legal, regulatory, and compliance challenges.

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Overview

As technology continues to transform financial services, fintech innovators, and those who do business with them, face rapidly changing legal, regulatory, and compliance challenges.

Perkins Coie attorneys help fintech clients develop products and implement appropriate compliance policies, programs, and procedures to mitigate privacy, fraud, and money laundering risks, as well as to ensure compliance with complex financial services, consumer protection, securities, commodities, and sanctions laws. We craft policies tailored to the formation of new and innovative fintech services and the issuance of new digital asset products and services. We also help clients understand and assess the regulatory issues relating to issuing digital assets in the context of fundraising. Clients trust us to assess and navigate regulatory questions associated with prevention of money laundering, compliance with state and federal money services and licensing laws, digital asset and token issuance, and digital asset exchanges in the blockchain and nonbank financial services.

Our enforcement attorneys defend clients before the agencies regulating fintech companies, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC), and state financial and banking regulators. We also stand ready to defend our clients against federal and state investigations, regulatory enforcement proceedings, and civil suits.

Our counsel to clients includes:

Regulatory Compliance and Risk Management

  • Conduct and review anti-money laundering (AML) risk assessments and develop compliance strategies for financial services such as money transmission, prepaid access, issuance of payment instruments, and token issuance, compliance advice related to U.S. import/export laws, and OFAC compliance
  • Advise on corporate governance
  • Draft policies and procedures
  • Prepare and submit federal money service business (MSB) registrations and state money transmission license applications
  • Provide training and communication
  • Provide ongoing compliance support

As clients work to keep pace with evolving regulatory and compliance requirements, we provide guidance in their adoption of new technology. These efforts include working with clients to examine and deploy regtech solutions, understand how technology is affecting their compliance controls, and perform due diligence on regtech compliance tools, security management, transaction monitoring, and regulatory reporting.

We also help clients develop and deploy state licensing strategies to identify locations requiring state money transmission licenses, then help them prepare and submit their license applications. For those clients already holding money transmission licenses, we assist in maintaining them, responding to periodic reporting requirements and providing representation in licensing examinations and FinCEN Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and anti-money laundering (AML) examinations.

Regulatory Enforcement and Civil Litigations

Our attorneys have deep experience representing fintech clients in the breadth of relevant regulatory and civil litigation defense. Past cases range from defending SEC enforcement actions and CFTC investigations; representing clients in state securities board, financial services, and attorney general investigations; and representing clients in OFAC and AML inquiries involving FinCEN, the OCC, and the other federal regulators that oversee AML and OFAC compliance. We also defend clients in enforcement actions by state financial services regulators, including allegations of unlicensed money transmission or failure to adhere to money transmission license obligations.

Perkins Coie attorneys help fintech clients develop products and implement appropriate compliance policies, programs, and procedures to mitigate privacy, fraud, and money laundering risks, as well as to ensure compliance with complex financial services, consumer protection, securities, commodities, and sanctions laws. We craft policies tailored to the formation of new and innovative fintech services and the issuance of new digital asset products and services. We also help clients understand and assess the regulatory issues relating to issuing digital assets in the context of fundraising. Clients trust us to assess and navigate regulatory questions associated with prevention of money laundering, compliance with state and federal money services and licensing laws, digital asset and token issuance, and digital asset exchanges in the blockchain and nonbank financial services.

Our enforcement attorneys defend clients before the agencies regulating fintech companies, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC), and state financial and banking regulators. We also stand ready to defend our clients against federal and state investigations, regulatory enforcement proceedings, and civil suits.

Our counsel to clients includes:

Regulatory Compliance and Risk Management

  • Conduct and review anti-money laundering (AML) risk assessments and develop compliance strategies for financial services such as money transmission, prepaid access, issuance of payment instruments, and token issuance, compliance advice related to U.S. import/export laws, and OFAC compliance
  • Advise on corporate governance
  • Draft policies and procedures
  • Prepare and submit federal money service business (MSB) registrations and state money transmission license applications
  • Provide training and communication
  • Provide ongoing compliance support

As clients work to keep pace with evolving regulatory and compliance requirements, we provide guidance in their adoption of new technology. These efforts include working with clients to examine and deploy regtech solutions, understand how technology is affecting their compliance controls, and perform due diligence on regtech compliance tools, security management, transaction monitoring, and regulatory reporting.

We also help clients develop and deploy state licensing strategies to identify locations requiring state money transmission licenses, then help them prepare and submit their license applications. For those clients already holding money transmission licenses, we assist in maintaining them, responding to periodic reporting requirements and providing representation in licensing examinations and FinCEN Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and anti-money laundering (AML) examinations.

Regulatory Enforcement and Civil Litigations

Our attorneys have deep experience representing fintech clients in the breadth of relevant regulatory and civil litigation defense. Past cases range from defending SEC enforcement actions and CFTC investigations; representing clients in state securities board, financial services, and attorney general investigations; and representing clients in OFAC and AML inquiries involving FinCEN, the OCC, and the other federal regulators that oversee AML and OFAC compliance. We also defend clients in enforcement actions by state financial services regulators, including allegations of unlicensed money transmission or failure to adhere to money transmission license obligations.

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